Te Wharewaka o Pōneke

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Location: Wellington

Completed: 2011

Civic; Commercial

Te Wharewaka o Pōneke marks the return of a Māori presence to Taranaki Wharf, the former site of Te Aro Pā. This unique building includes a multi-purpose function centre and cafe, office space, and housing for several ceremonial waka.

The waterfront site and complex design presented numerous engineering challenges – in particular delivering appropriate foundations and superstructure to mitigate the effects of potential liquefaction.

Te Wharewaka features a distinctive roof, intended to evoke a “korowai” or cloak.  This cloak covers the body of the building, and is not only architecturally distinctive but also provides environmental control to the building by reducing solar gain.  Dunning Thorton worked closly with architecture+ to deliver the complicated combination of structural forms and materials.

Client: Wharewaka o Pōneke Charitable Trust
Architect: architecture+
Contractor: LT McGuinness

Images: Paul McCredie